Welcome to summer. This editorial is being written on the longest day of the year. Here in England we sat through the dark of midsummer to greet the dawn, born in slate and white-gold sky. We’re halfway through the turning year, looking down from a hill. Look with us! There are so many paths to choose: from here you can journey with bird-mad heroes, or take the sea roads, walk through night-forests and talk with witches. You can map a lover’s body in brine or shape ghosts in ink. There are other colours than green in this summer: voices of silver and beards of blue… But it’s time to stand back and let our poets guide you. Let them take you by the hand.
We hope you enjoy the journey.
Mattie and Shira, editrixes
The mascot for issue #4 is Cara Mia!
Mia was adopted as a wee pup of eight weeks old. She lives in Florida, and is a mighty hunter of lizards! She’s curious, friendly, and easily rattled by thunderstorms and fireworks. She loves her toys and her toddler companion, Brielle.
(Interested in having your pets as our mascots?)
Mat Joiner’s poems and short stories have appeared in the likes of Strange Horizons, Goblin Fruit, Stone Telling, and Not One Of Us. Their poem “And Deeper Than Did Ever Plummet Sound” won the 2014 Dwarf Stars Award. They love ghosts, Green Men, and old books, and think “canalpunk” should be a subgenre. They never owned cats, but have a fox running around their head. They lives in Birmingham, England.
Shira Lipkin is a writer, poet, and editor in Boston; in their spare time, they volunteer with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. Their poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Stone Telling, Clockwork Phoenix 4, Interfictions 2, and other marvelous places; their poem “The Library, After” won the 2012 Rhysling Award. They attend a lot of burlesque shows, but that’s not where the glitter comes from. Their cat is bigger than their dog.